Author: ptagreengables

One of the goals of the 2018/2019 PTA board is assist the school in accomplishing a Chromebook for every child. We were able to purchase for the school 6 Chromebooks thru the funds we have raised. We hope to continue this trend. Technology is not the only way that the PTA supplements funds for the school. We sponsor field trips, classroom supplies, and curriculum program support. In addition we also host community events to bring our leprechauns together outside of the normal school day.

We are always looking for volunteers to help us pull off the many events and programs that we support. Please reach out to greengablesptavolunteers@gmail.com for our latest opportunities including: the St Patrick’s Day parade, Science Family Night, Teacher appreciation, and the end of year celebration.

Whether you have an hour, a day, or more we can use your help!

How can you help?

Keep collecting BoxTops – Our fall submission was $598.47 and we have one more submission in the spring which we hope to surpass our $1k total for the year.

Holiday shopping becomes a breeze by using our Amazon Smile account. When you make a purchase thru our Amazon Smile account .05% of your total purchase is placed into our Green Gables PTA fund by the Amazon Smile program. The program is free to participate. You simply need to click on our site -> Log in -> and place your order from https://smile.amazon.com/ch/84-6111907 . .03% might not seem like a lot but since we started this program we have raised a total of $301.91 for the school. That’s three field trips on the bus or one Chromebook purchased thru the District.

Support our Business Sponsors- We appreciate our Business Sponsors. They have helped us tremendously in providing funds for our technology and community events. Take a moment to thank them personally, visit their establishments, and be sure if you use their services to provide them a review via yelp, google, or the companies website. We are always looking for more sponsors if you have suggestions for us to reach out please contact greengablesptasponsor@gmail.com.

Participate in our Food Nights – We recently partnered with New York Johnny’s Pizza to provide a 4 day long food night fund raisers. We are still tallying our results but we will have additional Food Nights coming up. So watch our Facebook site, your school messenger, and your Friday folders for additional information.

Volunteer your time and creativity– We are always looking for Green Gables Champions to help us provide support to our student’s and staff. If you have an idea or would like to spear head a fund raising idea please reach out to us! greengablesptaco@gmail.com

Follow us on Facebook or thru our website– Follow us on Facebook or our website and like our posts. Our social media following helps us to gain more business sponsors. If you have a passion for social media we are looking for a volunteer to take over this effort.

Become a PTA member- Engage by becoming a PTA member and attend our monthly meetings. Together we can help our leprechauns learn and grow. We need your help to pull off what we do. We accept checks or online payments for all of our membership levels. http://ptagreengables.com/membership/

What’s Coming up:

December 4th will be a Chipolte night hosted by Southern Green Gables HOA. 33% of total sales will be donated to the Giving tree at the school.

Holiday Shop- We will again this year host the Holiday shop where students can shop for holiday gifts for their family. All proceeds will go back to the Giving tree at the school.

January PTA meeting

Talent Show

Worlds Finest Chocolate

Moms 4 Muffins/Dads 4 Donuts

Science Family Fun Night

St Patrick’s Day Parade

Teacher Appreciation

Run 4 Funds

Spring Club Activities

#rockonleprechauns #fundonleprechauns #puttingtherockinshamrock

We have kicked off our 2018 Read-A- Thon with Drop everything and read on Sept 24th. The Read-A-Thon will run until October 7th. This is a wonderful opportunity to get our kids geared up for the love of reading while raising funds for the school.

Some things to know:

Each student has their own personal code and page to help track minutes, raise funds, and earn prizes thru October 7th

There are prizes for everyone: Top reading class, Top fund Raisers (Class and individuals) , Top readers

Don’t forget to complete your additional chances to win by completing the coupons sent in Friday Folders

Coupons will be collected each morning as the kiddos enter the school doors

Our school goal is 150K minutes for the staff to turn their hair green!

We will update our Facebook page on our daily running totals. (We hear there is some fierce competitions between the classrooms occurring.. and we love that)

As of Sept 28th here are your running totals:

Did you know:

For the 2018/2019 school year Green Gables Elementary has a new Library system and new look and feel to the library? We were able to accomplish these things partially with the funds raised from last year’s fund raisers contributing 4K to the library revamp from last year’s fund raiser

Steps to add your minutes from home:

Click on Start a Reading session from either the main page tile or from your menu on the left

Click on start or enter a reading session

Do you have a passion for reading?:

Consider volunteering at the library. They could use your help in shelving books and helping the kids during library day

Contact the front office for volunteering opportunities.

Can we do 150K minutes?

We think so during the Jefferson County Summer Reading program we read 233,423 minutes as a school and ranked 7th out of 94 schools. If you missed our summer reading program with Henry the reading wonder dog you can read all about it him and our summer adventures here.

10 minutes of effort just earned our school $10.00

Did you know you can earn extra box tops by using the Box Top app?

For years we have all been clipping and saving Box Tops from participating products. As a PTA we turn in our Box Tops twice a year. We will send our Fall Collection at the end of October. But did you know you can earn extra box tops by using the app?

The Box Top for education app for android and iphone allows registered BoxTop users to log into the app scan their grocery store receipts for participating products, and earn additional boxtops for certain products all from your phone.

Box Top in conjunction with Sam’s Club is doing a promotion until 9/28. If you buy 3 participating items from Sam’s Club -> scan your receipt using the app -> They will put $10.00 in our account. (That’s like 100 box tops!)

My Experiment and Proof!

I too was a little skeptical if this would actually work. I mean $10.00 worth of box tops for a little over $30.00 of product. It sounded too good to be true. I had used the app in prior years to scan grocery receipts, but it seemed like a lot of work for .40 cents. I had not done it all online before, and by no means was $10.00 100 box tops on the line!

So I decided to test it out..and guess what it worked! I clicked on the Sam’s Club offer from the Box Top Website -> logged into my Sam’s account-> I ordered my three products online (but you can do it from the store as well and if you are Sam’s club plus member it’s FREE SHIPPING) -> I opened up the Box Top app pointed it at my computer and scanned the order confirmation on my computer to the Box Top app -> 48 hours later the app showed processed-> still a bit skeptical I checked our school account. BOOM $10.00 in about 10 minutes.

Whether you clip or scan… save those Box Tops.. it does make difference $8,452.77 in 4 years.

Business Sponsorship:

We are excited to offer a new Business Sponsorship program for the 2018/2019 with additional opportunities for local businesses to support our school. We accept checks or online payment for our business sponsorship levels.

– Gold: $675.00 Gold Sponsor will be included on the Green Gables PTA Sponsorship banner displayed outside of the school. Gold sponsors will be allowed to promote their business with distribution of a coupon to our membership twice a year Gold Sponsors will receive an exclusive listing with business logo in all of our Monthly Business Sponsorship page, prominent display in our membership newsletter and marketing materials, and an official Green Gables PTA Business Sponsorship certificate for display, Mention on our Social Media avenues.

– Silver$500.00 Silver Sponsors will be included on the Green Gables PTA Business Sponsorship banner displayed outside of the school. Silver Sponsors will also receive an exclusive listing with business logo in all of our monthly Business Sponsorship pages and an official Green Gables PTA Business Sponsorship certificate for display. Mention on our Social Media avenues.

– Bronze $250.00 Bronze Sponsors will be included on the Green Gables PTA Business Sponsorship banner displayed outside of the school. Bronze Sponsors will also receive a listing in one (1) monthly Business Sponsorship page between September and December and one (1) mention on the Monthly Business Sponsorship page between January and May as well as an official Green Gables PTA Business Sponsorship certificate for display. Mention on our Social Media avenues.

– Cash 4 Chrome $219.46 – Cash 4 Chrome is an opportunity for a business or individual to sponsor the purchase of a Chromebook from the District . Sponsors will be recognized on our social media sites and in our newsletters.

We also accept and appreciate your in kind donations. If you prefer to pay by check please complete the business sponsorship application, make your checks payable to Green Gables Elementary PTA, and drop them off at the PTA mailbox located at the front office.

We would like to take a moment to thank our 2017/2018 business sponsorships.

In an earlier Henry the Reading Wonder Dog post we shared with you how Henry took a summer class and earned his “Pups on Patrol” credentials from the Denver Police Department. This means that Henry goes on lot’s of adventures with his handler interacting with people and spreading the joy he brings to people as a certified Therapy Dog.

This weekend he visited the Denver Public Library and took a shady break under the 21 ft red chair with Yerling that stands outside of the library.

Henry gives his adventure downtown two paws up!

We were curious the story behind the Yerling and chair sculpture and so we did some research on the web.

Turns out “The Yearling” by Donald Lipski was originally commissioned for an elementary school in upper Manhattan. Lipski stated he wanted “to give kids something that would really be a cause for wonder.” The school district asked Lipski to remove the horse. He refused because he felt without the yerling the sculpture “lost it’s magic”. The Yerling spent 1997 in New York City’s Central park, and traveled to Denver in 1998 where it permanently sits today at the downtown library.

What do you think about the sculpture?

Would you have removed the horse?

What color would you have made the chair?

When you look at the sculpture what do you think?

Where have your travels brought you this summer?

Have you traveled outside of the state?

Have you done something at home?

Think about how you can capture your favorite memories of the summer to share with others.

Some ideas include:

Create a memory board and paste your pictures

Create a photo book

Start a journal

Sketch some pictures

Create a video

Gather things that remind you of your travels or memories and put them in a shoe box to share with others

So it’s probably clear to most of you that I am dog! So I love to look at pictures in books and listen to my handler read aloud while I follow along, but I also love to listen to audio books, podcasts, ebooks, and books on CD’s. The best thing about audiobooks for me is I can relax with my favorite toy (Moose) while listening to a great story!

You should try it! Ebooks, podcasts, and audio books all count towards your minutes for the Jefferson County Library Rock the Books Summer Reading Program.

At last update Green Gables was number 8 in reading minutes out of all of the Jefferson County Elementary Schools.

Jefferson County library Ebooks:

I tried a few and here are my reviews:

Hoopla

I am a HUGE Youtube fan and I really like Dude Perfect! You know the guys who do crazy basketball shots? Recently I downloaded their ebook from Hoopla Go Big. I can get 10 titles a month on there and I can listen to the audio while I read the pdf.

Axis 360

Axis 360 is a really great resource for me! I can download the book and I can even read it in a browser. You can download the app to your phone and download items for reading offline. I even found Harry Potter on there! I recently used this option for a drive up to the mountains.

Reading on the Web

Keeping up with all that information out there on the web is a “Ruff” job, so I use some of these sites to help me find articles that I like. Check them out !

Newsela – Is a free download for your Iphone. You can set your reading level, set topic favorites, search for content, and have the article be read to you!

DogoNews– Well isn’t obvious why I like this site? Hello I am dog! On this site I searched for an article on dogs and had the system read to me about a Labrador Retriever who rides the city bus solo and takes himself to the park. My handler did not think the article was a good idea, but I got a big chuckle listening to this dogs antics as he explored the outside world without a leash!

Stewards Resources Master Library – You can select your grade level to view and hear text. Every word on the page is clickable so you can see the different words and syllables, and really master that decoding thingy!

What’s Henry Up To?

Henry recently went on a trip to Steam Boat Springs with his handler and his best friend Kai. Like Henry Kai is also a rescue dog. They hang out a lot over the summer months because they both like adventure and helping humans.

During his down time on his adventures Henry listened to the book I was a Third Grade Spyby Mary Jane Auch.

He is giving the book two paws up!

Henry’s Book Review| I was a Third Grade Spy By Mary Jane Auch

The story was told from Arful’s perspective. I like reading books when they are told by a dog. I am after all a dog!

The boys -Brian, Josh and Dougie tried to hypnotize Arful so he would become a cat. The cat thing did not work, but guess what… Arful learned to talk! It’s amazing what you can learn even if you don’t expect it!

An announcement was made about an upcoming School Talent Contest. The boys wanted to win but did not know what they could perform for a talent. What was their talent? Should it be a magic trick? They needed to find a talent.

The girls -Emily, Lissa and Cara were planning for the talent show and they wanted to win.

The boys made a bet with the girls if the boys lose, the girls get to boss them around for a week in school.

It was boys vs girls who would win?

The boys started ‘Operation Dog Spy’ which included sending Arful to the girl’s talent show meetings and report back insider details. The girls did not know that Arful could talk, they just thought he was cute so he was invited into their meetings. When Arful would come back to report his findings he could not remember exactly what the girls discussed. Maybe it was French Cooking? So the boys tried to make a soufflé to compete – no luck – what a mess.

The talent show date was approaching fast. The boys tried to have Arful learn how to tell jokes. Having a dog tell jokes is very hard, even when you can talk.

On the day of the talent show, the girls are performing. Arful was waiting with the boys for their turn and all Arful wanted to do was play stick. He reeked habic on the girls performance, but we will leave the details for you to read. Let’s just say that Arful got into trouble. A LOT OF TROUBLE .

Have you ever wanted to compete with the girls or boys in your class?
Have you learned something unexpected?
What’s your hidden talent?

Here is Henry’s challenge this week!

Henry is challenging you to find out the Lexile® reading level of Where the Wild Things Are by Maurice Sendak using your new skills learned in his latest blog post Henry Explains| Lexile® reading levels and how they can be used. Where the Wild Things Are is Henry’s favorite book to listen to!

The most important thing!

The most important thing to Henry is that you just read this summer! Find something you enjoy to read and track those minutes for the Jefferson County Summer Reading Program 6/1 -7/31. There are many resources out there to help you select the right book. Click Here for a few we have collected in the past for our Read 4 Funds fundraiser.

If you have a favorite book to share with Henry let him know in his exclusive Flipgrid video chat where you can post video questions, comments, and book reviews. Email ptagreengablesptaco@yahoo.com for access instructions!

Flipgrid is a social learning site where you can post video chats and view other’s responses to questions like:

Ask a Question

Tell Henry about your favorite book

How do you find the perfect book?

What are you reading right now

This is a locked down site by a password and you must be a Green Gables student enrolled in the 2017/2018 school year to participate.

To post to Flipgrid complete the following steps:

Send an email to ptagreengablesptaco@yahoo.com with the following: Full name|Grade Completed this year| Teacher

You will receive an email with instructions on how to access and post to Henry The Reading Wonder Dogs social learning space

Did you know that you can search the Jefferson County Library for books by Lexile® reading level?

When you utilize the Jefferson County Library site advanced catalog search you can select books by your child’s Lexile® Range. Complete the following steps to find a book by your child’s Lexile® range.

Steps to complete:

Scroll down until you see the Reading Level Range section as shown below

Enter the range indicated on your Student’s Progress Report

Enter any additional Search criteria

For a list of books at your child’s Lexile® reading level indicated on the MAP® Student Progress Report

Lexile® Reading Levels and how they can be used:

Children in grades 3-9 in Jefferson County are tested three times a year for academic growth in reading using the MAP® Growth performance indicator . The MAP® test is developed by the Northwest Evaluation Association (NWEA). You should have received the MAP® growth Student Progress Report in the last Friday folder of the 2018 school year. The Student MAP® testing results are measured in RIT scores (short for Rasch Unit). A RIT score is an estimation of a student’s instructional level and also measures student progress or growth in school.

RIT Explained from the NWEA site:

You may have a chart in your home on which you mark your child’s height at certain times, such as on his or her birthday. This is a growth chart to show how much he or she has grown from one year to the next. MAP® assessments do the same sort of thing, except they measure your student’s growth in mathematics and reading. The RIT scale is an equal-interval scale much like feet and inches on a yardstick. It is used to chart your child’s academic growth from year to year. This type of score increases the value of the tests as a tool to improve student learning because it
enables teachers to pinpoint what students have learned and what students are ready to learn. We found this source quite helpful in understanding the MAP Growth RIT.

Where do I find the Lexile® range for my child at the end of the school year?

If you refer to the reading section of the MAP® Student Progress Report your child’s Lexile® Range is indicated at the bottom of the reading section highlighted in dark grey. It will be indicated by a range followed by an L. For example: Lexile® Range 285-435L

What is a Lexile range and how do I use it from the NWEA site?

Lexile® levels are scientifically and mathematically assigned based on the difficulty and readability of a book. Once you know your child’s Lexile® level, you can search for books that match his/her level to expand your home library and encourage daily reading practice in your own home. Some experts believe that providing text not by grade level but by Lexile® level is the best way to improve reading confidence. The Lexile® site has many resources for you to search books and understand how the Lexile® range is calculated.

If you child has not completed the MAP® test because they are not in the third grade ask them their reading level. They normally will know. You can utilize the image below to understand reading program levels vs. Lexile® ranges:

Does your child like to read alone but you wonder about their comprehension of the text check out PowerV by Lexile?

“When your child reads books within their Lexile range, there will always be some words your child doesn’t know. Anticipating what those words might be and helping your child understand them can increase your child’s enjoyment of the book as well as grow their vocabulary.

More than 125,000 books in the “Find a Book” database include a robust vocabulary tool called PowerV. The PowerV Vocabulary tool identifies up to 10 challenging words in each book that are important for readers to know. It can also provide customized vocabulary lists and forecast comprehension for your child.”

We have some exciting news to share with you about our friend Henry The Wonder Reading Dog! Henry and his handler Patti recently took a summer class together. Henry knows that even though it is summer break it is important for him and his handler to keep their skills sharp by continuing to learn and practice over the summer break.

Henry earned his “Pups on Patrol” credentials from the Denver Police Department – District 3 yesterday. He worked with Officer Jim Lopez.

Every few weeks, Denver Police Department invites dog owners to attend their Pups on Patrol class to allow dogs and their handlers to be certified in helping to sniff out crime in the Denver Metro area. The Pups-On-Patrol program gives dog owners (and dogs), the tools and tricks to effectively observe and report suspicious activity. So now Henry The Wonder Reading Dog is helping to take a bite out crime by being an extra set of eyes and ears for the Denver Police Department. Through hard work and continuous training Henry the Wonder Reading Dog has gone from an abandoned hurt stray to one great dog helping kiddos and keeping our communities safe. We are so proud of him and his handler. Go Henry!

You can learn more about the Pups on Patrol program by watching this quick video on Frankie Frankie is also a certified Pups on Patrol.

SUNDAY MATINEE MINUTE: PUPS ON PATROLFrankie is just one of 137 honorary Denver Police K-9's certified through our Pups on Patrol program and today we're taking you on patrol with her! Watch now to learn about the program and if you (and your pup) are interested in joining, the next training class is December 12, 2017 at the Denver Police District 1 station. To RSVP, please email robert.gibbs@denvergov.org.

What can you do to keep your skills sharpened over the summer break?

Henry is encouraging you all to continue to sharpen your reading skills over the summer break by registering for and participating in the Jefferson County Library Rock the Books free summer reading program. Register today and start logging minutes beginning June 1st.

Henry’s Challenge

Henry is challenging our leprechauns to log the most minutes for a Jefferson County Elementary school and have a chance to win an $800.00 for our school. He is also challenging the entire county to log 40 million minutes for a $500.00 donation to the Foothills Animal Shelter to help his fellow friends that have not found their forever home.

We wanted to take a moment and thank you all for your support of the Green Gables PTA this year. There is definitely a renewed energy in our little school, and we could not do what we do without our volunteers, board members, and supporters. We are looking forward to an even more successful year for the 2018/2019 school year.

The PTA wanted to give you a brief recap of the year and receive your feedback for next year on how together we can continue to support our kids, staff, and community. Please take a moment to provide your feedback by completing our end of year survey. We need to hear from you!

The Southern Green Gables Neighborhood Association will be coordinating a benefit for the Green Gables Elementary School. 50% of the proceeds will go to Green Gables Elemantary school directly to help with our struggling families and our holiday giving tree.